Seeding the Ocean: Inside a Michelin-Starred Chef’s Revolutionary Quest to Harvest Rice From the Sea
Can eelgrass — and the innovation of Spanish chef Ángel León — change the way we feed the world?
I Was Pregnant and in Crisis. All the Doctors and Nurses Saw Was an Incompetent Black Woman
“It might seem that the culture’s perennial strong woman would also be competent. But incompetent and superhero do not actually conflict in the context of essential notions about gender, race, class, and hierarchy.”
How a DNA Testing Kit Revealed a Family Secret Hidden for 54 Years
A personal essay by memoirist Dani Shapiro about discovering, accidentally through DNA testing, that the father she knew was not her biological parent. In the piece she advocates for the rights of children produced through assisted reproduction, after decades in which those of parents and donor prevailed, and children were kept in the dark about their true parentage.
There’s Nothing Virtuous About Finding Common Ground
Novelist Tayari Jones on the impossibility of the “middle ground” in a moral dilemma.
My True South: Why I Decided to Return Home
Why would a successful black woman leave the West Coast for her native Mississippi? Because Mississippi is America in all its racial violence, intergenerational trauma, leafy beauty and hope, and why run from a place you can remake together.
Barbie’s Got a New Body
After 57 years, the world’s best-selling doll has a new body. Three new bodies, actually: petite, tall and curvy. Eliana Dockterman goes inside the Mattel branding machine to discuss what’s at stake for the company, and what their decision says about American beauty standards.
How Do You Forgive a Murder?
The families and survivors of the Charleston massacre share their stories and talk about faith and forgiveness.
How TV Sex Got Real
The idea that the sex we see depicted on television should look or feel anything like what goes on in our own bedrooms is a very recent development. Eliana Dockterman looks at how TV sex got real.
Pot Kids
Inside the quasi-legal science-free world of medical marijuana for kids.
Inside the National Suicide Hotline: Preventing the Next Tragedy
Behind the scenes of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the debate over what policies and programs are effective when it comes to preventing suicide and saving lives in the U.S.:
“Studies done by Columbia University’s Dr. Madelyn Gould have found that about 12 percent of suicidal callers reported in a follow-up interview that talking to someone at the lifeline prevented them from harming or killing themselves. Almost half followed through with a counselor’s referral to seek emergency services or contacted mental health services, and about 80 percent of suicidal callers say in follow-up interviews that the lifeline has had something to do with keeping them alive.
“‘I don’t know if we’ll ever have solid evidence for what saves lives other than people saying they saved my life,’ says Draper. ‘It may be that the suicide rate could be higher if crisis lines weren’t in effect. I don’t know. All I can say is that what we’re hearing from callers is that this is having a real life-saving impact.'”